Mary Davis' Blog: July 2021

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Tuesday Tidbits: A PUFF OF FASHION HISTORY

One of my favorite scenes in the Anne of Green Gables miniseries produced in the 1980s was when Matthew (Anne’s male guardian) bought her a dress with puffed sleeves. Matthew comments on the puffed sleeves, and Anne says, “The puffiest in the world.” Oh, yeah. That’s what I’m talking about.

Puffed, gigot, and leg o’ mutton sleeves were all very voluminous and popular in the 1890s. The term “leg o’ mutton” comes from shape of a leg of lamb, bulbous at one end and narrow at the other like a turkey drumstick. Even though the shapes are very similar, I still find it peculiar to name a sleeve after an animal part that is used for food. But no one asked me when naming the gloriously poofy sleeves.

Sleeves are often a key fashion element of a garment that creates the overall silhouette. Puffed sleeves have come and gone from fashion over the decades and centuries. Puffy sleeves can be seen in the 1830s, 1850s, 1890s, 1930s, 1980s, and apparently, as of Spring and Summer 2021, puffed sleeves are back once again.

I often wondered how they managed to keep historical puffed sleeves puffy. The trick was the “sleeve puffs” or “plumpers.” These were pillow-like things stuffed with down or feathers that were slipped around the arm and tied in place on the corset to keep them from slipping down. Light weight, yet poofy. Perfect.

In my novel The Débutante’s Secret that releases in August, I gave my heroine my love of puffed sleeves. My story takes place in the 1890s. The decade started out with relatively slim sleeves and bloomed from there, getting puffier and puffier. Some were so big, they bordered on absurd.

My down-to-earth hero (a deputy) in The Débutante’s Secret doesn’t understand the heroine’s sleeve choice, but he’s impressed by how she manages to effortlessly maneuver her massive sleeves through a doorway without them even touching the door frame. I, too, had wondered how it could done, so I put myself in my heroine’s sleeves and proceeded to mentally walk through a doorway. Since she usually wore this style of sleeves, she wouldn’t have any trouble navigating through a doorway.

I’m secretly pleased that puffy sleeves are back. Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone.

Do you like puffed sleeves?

***NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER***

THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle 4)

Will Geneviève open her heart to a love she never imagined?

Washington State 1894

Geneviève Marseille has one purpose in coming to Kamola—stopping her brother from digging up the past. Deputy Montana has lived a simple life. But when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into his arms, his modest existence might not be enough anymore. A nemesis from Aunt Henny's past arrives in town threatening her with jail. Will she flee as she’d done all those years ago, or stand her ground in the town she’s made her home? When secrets come out, will the lives of Geneviève, Montana, and Aunt Henny ever be the same?

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3, Salah Award Winner). The Quilting Circle Book 4, THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET, will release August of 2021. Some of her other recent titles include; "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, Courting Her Amish Heart, The Widow’s Plight, Courting Her Secret Heart , “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , and Courting Her Prodigal Heart . 2019 titles include The Daughter's Predicament and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Tuesday Tidbits: THE MAKING OF A COLLEGE COW TOWN

   Before there was a town, the Kittitas Valley, where Ellensburg is located, was important to the native tribes who gathered in the area to harvest camas roots and sweet onions, to graze and race their horses, settle disputes, forge family ties, feast, and play games.
   In July 1848, Father Pandosy established the first non-native home in the Ellensburg area. It was a small structure to house a mission called Immaculate Conception on Manastash Creek. He hoped to bring Christianity to the natives. He served there until September of 1849.
   The Kittitas Valley was the scene of many cattle drives that went through the area, either heading north into Canada or over the Cascade Mountains toward Seattle.
   William Wilson came in 1867 and built a cabin on a creek which would bear his name, Wilson Creek. Wilson passed away due a disagreement over another man’s horse.

Andrew Jackson Splawn, cowboy and future state senator, and Ben Burch, in 1870, hired Martin Davern to haul Wilson’s cabin to what is now the middle of Ellensburg to be the first store in the Kittitas Valley. That seems like a difficult task. I don’t know why they didn’t simply built a new structure. The tiny business was christened “Robber’s Roost”. Hmm? Would I trust a business with “robber” in its name?

In 1871 John and Mary Ellen Shoudy left Seattle for the Kittitas Valley. Shoudy and his brother-in-law Dexter Horton, a banker, were among a group of Seattleites who wished to establish a wagon route through the Cascade Mountains. After the streets were platted in 1875, Shoudy named this budding new town Ellensburgh after his wife, Mary Ellen. You might not have noticed the final “h” on the town’s name. Apparently, the United States Post Office deemed it unnecessary and dropped it in 1894.

In 1878, this young town could boast its first permanent physician, Dr. Middleton Amen. The first saloon came on the scene at that time as well. Close on the heels of medicine and booze, during the winter of 1881-1882, the first session of public school was held with William O. Ames as teacher.

Ellensburg was becoming quite civilized and soon became the hub of traffic west, north, east, and south. It had location in its favor. The town’s growth accelerated in 1883 with the First National Bank of Ellensburg, the Ellensburg Hook and Ladder Company No 1, and being named the county seat for the newly established Kittitas County. Northern Pacific Railroad completed a depot in 1886.

A fire engine such as this was no match for the blaze that swept through Ellensburg in 1889. Like with many town and cities destroyed by fire, it was decided to have brick buildings replace the destroyed ones.

Ellensburg had been in the running to the state’s capital, but in the November 4, 1890 election, Olympia was chosen. That same year, the first telephone service arrived.

The following year, the Washington State Normal School opened in a temporary borrowed building and moved to their own building in 1894. The name was changed to Central Washington College of Education in 1937, Central Washington State College in 1961, and finally Central Washington University in 1977.

You might be wondering why I chose to give the history of this modest town in the middle of Washington State. I attended college there and love the town. So I loosely based my town, Kamola, in The QUILTING CIRCLE series on Ellensburg and named it after the dorm, Kamola, I lived in. I have not used all of these elements in my fictional town, but they might show up in future books.